Robert Sullivan
Robert Sullivan (born 1967) is a New Zealand poet. Life Sullivan is of Māori and Irish Galway descent. He belongs to the Māori tribes Ngā Puhi (Ngāti Manu/Ngāti Hau) as well as to Ngāi Tahu, and describes himself as multicultural. He graduated from the University of Auckland with an M.A., and worked as associate professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Programme at the University of Hawai'i. Green, P., and Ricketts, H., 99 Ways into New Zealand Poetry, Vintage, 2010. Robert currently teaches a popular creative writing class at MIT's MSVA Campus. He is one of the editors of the online journal [http://www.trout.auckland.ac.nz/index.html trout] since its foundation in 1997.http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/sullivanrobert.html Sullivan is also the founder of the new Journal Ika http://www.manukau.ac.nz/creativearts/school-of-creative-writing which will be giving students of the Creative Writing School at Manukau Institute of Technology the opportunity to showcase their work. At the moment, Robert Sullivan is - supported by several literary awards and his successful professional career - "widely seen as one of the most important contemporary Māori poets.""SULLIVAN, R.“ Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. D. HEAD (Hg.). Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006, 1078. Writing Sullivan has published several books and collections of different style and theme - but all explore dimensions of Māori tradition as well as "contemporary urban experiences, including local racial and social concerns." His writing has a post modern feel and shows acute awareness of important Aotearoa/New Zealand issues while linking them in a complex way back to the cultural past.JENSEN, K. „Sullivan, Robert.“ The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. R. Robinson & N. Wattie (Hg.). Melbourne: Oxford UP, 1998, 519. In the poetic narrative Star Waka (1999) for example, Mr. Sullivan employs traditional Māori story-telling techniques (oral tradition) in order to link contemporary and traditional topics from New Zealand with concepts and ideas from a European background. This approach allows him to study the identity relation between Māori and Pākehā within transcultural themes of voyaging, personal and national, of the poet and of Māori. In a sense, the poems in Star Waka "themselves function like a waka." "Star Waka" was "lauded for its poetic flair". Reviews New Zealand Herald: :Robert Sullivan's Shout Ha! is heralded as a stunning symphony of love, politics, tenderness, confession, sharpness and insight which should be in every New Zealand school library as it accounts the history and politics of the country. :Sullivan uses a wide-ranging voice who makes complex content, simple in execution. :His book Cassino, in part is a song for Sullivan's grandfather who fought in Italy. Cassino is being compared to Dante's Divine Comedy with its various descents, ascents, spirals and authorial intrusions. :Like Dante, Sullivan is bringing together life on many levels - from the personal to the cultural, from the political to the emotional. Like the Italian poet, he favours a cheeky vernacular as well as an elegant phrasing. :Sullivan draws upon his own loves and losses in a way that refreshes our engagement with all things human."2011. Poetry Reviews: Fossicking in the past". The New Zealand Herald Publications Poetry * Jazz Waiata. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1990. * Piki Ake!: Poems, 1990-92. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1993. * Star Waka. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1999. * Captain Cook in the Underworld. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002. * Voice Carried My Family. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2005. * Shout Ha! to the Sky. London: Salt, 2010. * Cassino: City of Martyrs. Wellington: Hula, 2010. Novels *''Maui: Legends of the outcast'' (graphic novel; illustrated by Chris Slane). Auckland: Godwill, 1996. Juvenile *''Weaving Earth and Sky: Myths and legends of Aotearoa'' (illustrated by Gavin Bishop). Auckland: Random House New Zealand, 2002. ''Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Robert Sullivan, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 6, 2014. See also *Maori poets *List of New Zealand poets References Notes External links ;Poems *"The Winding Stair" * Robert Sullivan at the New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre ;Books * Robert Sullivan at the New Zealand Literature File ;Audio / video *Robert Sullivan (b. 1967) at The Poetry Archive * Pasifika Video interview with Robert Sullivan conducted by Selina Tusitala Marsh, Pasifika Poetry ;About *Sullivan, Robert at the New Zealand Book Council * Conversation with Robert Sullivan, WaterBridge Review (January 2005) Category:New Zealand poets Category:New Zealand Māori writers Category:Living people Category:21st-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Maori poets